A Moment Frozen In Time
by Lyranfan
Summary: One-shot : Bobby watches the Winter Olympics and thinks about his life as an X-Man.


Disclaimer: I don't own the X-Men, X-Men:Evolution or any of its iterations.

A quick one-shot about Bobby – one of my favorite X-Men. Set in the near future. Some author's thoughts at the end.

And a MAJOR thank you to Lisette793 for the geography reminder.

**A Moment Frozen in Time**

Bobby turned down the volume on the television as Jubilee shifted on the couch. She stirred but she didn't quite wake up from her nap.

He was surprised how loud the Olympic theme could be. It was probably his fault the volume was so high – his calculator was pressing down on the remote – but he'd never admit it. Not to her he never would – he'd convince her it was her fault – blame it on her swollen feet. But she'd see right through it – she was a lot craftier then he ever would be.

The announcer said, "Welcome to the 2018 Winter Olympics from Helsinki, Finland. Tonight, the final round of the women's skating. A really tight contest all the way around." Jubilee had wanted to watch this so Bobby pressed the record button. She really needed the rest.

He shuffled the tax folders in front of him. Ever since he earned his accounting degree and his tax certification, Bobby was the magnet for everyone's federal, state and W-2 forms as they filtered in the January mail. He was glad for the background distraction of the Olympics as he worked on some more figures.

Bobby the number cruncher – the moolah magician – the chilly change champ – the Iceberg Lettuce man. Lots of cool nicknames but none of them meant a thing. None of it measured up to the accomplishments of some of the others on the team.

A few skating programs in – the girl from Norway had a strong program, the girl from France fell twice, the girl from the US fell once. It looked like the race for the medals was wide open.

Bobby remembered what he accomplished today – he had lectured Scott on buying a house since it was one of the few tax shelters left. Scott wanted an apartment since it was cheaper, but with a lot of effort Bobby convinced him it would be better to get even a small condominium for the tax break. Jean had wanted to do that all along but she had caved to her husband's wishes.

He had enjoyed turning the table on Scott for once but it was a hollow victory. Scott used the anger from the lecture to set a new record in the danger room. He teased Bobby about scheduling lectures like that one on a regular basis.

As Cyclops, the older mutant had inspired so many other people. Many of the new recruits named him as a role model they looked up to on their application. Somehow Bobby's name never came up.

Some more standings – the girl from Germany did well but her program was rated as too easy, the girl from Finland did well in front of the home crowd.

What had Bobby ever done to make his first child on the way be proud? He glanced at Jubilee's rounded belly, knowing she was in that stage of her pregnancy when she could fall asleep at the drop of a hat.

He had helped out the team on a number of battles, but his was always the parting shot – what Jamie nicknamed the icing on the cake. Time was running out for Bobby to have the story to tell the newborn baby what a great X-Man daddy was. Maybe it wasn't meant to be – he'd always just be a background kind of guy. No sense in getting reckless as the delivery date loomed closer and closer.

As he looked over at the couch, Bobby watched the easy rise and fall of her chest. He would never tire of watching her dozing with that baby glow about her.

Marrying her was the only thing he had ever done right in his life. That and the baby. And joining the Institute where he met the love of his life. It all came back to her.

He tried to concentrate on the Professor's return for the Institute. But again the question nags him. Who have I inspired? There was some rent on the budget that Bobby couldn't identify and he made a note to ask the Professor what that item was all about.

He had talked to the professor about never inspiring anyone like the other X-Men had and his mentor was sympathetic but only gave Bobby some vague advice and one of those creepy smiles.

He watched a girl from some island group in the Pacific Ocean up next. She was older then the others but she was still petite enough to skate well, the commentators said. He decided to take a break from numbers hell and watch her skate. She was a long shot but her program is strong. With each jump, more and more people in the crowd cheered her on and the pure joy of skating showed on her face. That he understood – the freedom, the air rushing through your hair – you and the ice are one.

She finished with a great flourish – a difficult but flawless program. The crowd loved her and the judges agree. Bobby smiled – good for you. Something you can tell your children about.

Jubilee stretched suddenly and asked, "What I miss?" Bobby pointed to the screen, "Looks like she just scored the gold." Jubilee rubbed the sleep from her eyes, "So where is she from?" Bobby shrugged and said "Some group of islands in the Pacific – a real hotbed for winter sports."

She started to become more awake and moaned, "You let me miss it." Jubilee then kicked him, "How could you let me miss it?"

Bobby stood up rubbing his butt., "Hey, hey, hey, I recorded it for you." She smiled sleepily, held out her arms and made loving kissie noises at him. He knelt down and put his head gently on her belly as she wrapped her arms around him.

Yeah – there's one for the record books – I recorded the Olympics for your mom. Did it all by myself. Just tapped the record button and blamo – Bobby saved the day again. He held his breath to see if he could hear the tiny heartbeat yet.

The flags rose above the rink and sure enough the girl from the islands had won the gold medal. A former skating gold medalist turned sports broadcaster began to interview her. "So how does a girl from the islands get good at skating?"

As she tried to catch her breath, she told her story. "Years ago, a volcano threatened my village. We were saved by a group of teens who called themselves the X-Men." Bobby sat up and looked at the TV. He remembered that rescue. Amara had made the difference. How about that – the island girl of fire inspiring someone else from her part of the world to get to the Olympics. Good for her.

The skater accepted flowers from her coach but as the sportscaster turned away, she reached out to grab the microphone. "Wait, wait, I need to finish. After the rescue, they stayed another day and he taught a tiny little girl of five to skate. I was terrified at first at the sight of all the ice on the grass. But he held my hands and told me I could do it – that I was a natural. All my life since I learned to skate that day, his voice has kept me going, 'You can do it.' And here I am."

The girl's mom stepped into view with a photo album. The skater turned the book towards the international audience. With a huge smile, she screamed and held her medal up alongside an enlarged photo, "This one's for you, Bobby Drake!"

Two jaws drop as they view the album picture on the TV – Bobby at age 14 in his full ice form, smiling as he hold the hands of a little girl with homemade bamboo blade skates on a sheet of ice. In the snapshot, she looks terrified and happy at the same time.

Various catcalls make their way down from the Institute dorm level – Way to go, Cubie; That's cool, dude; Right on, Bobby. He heard Ray's voice in a feminine pitch "Oh Mr. Drake – won't you teach me to skate?" Bobby and Jubilee joined in the laughter that spread through the halls.

Bobby remembered the unusual unnamed rent on the budget. Could it be for some ice arena on a particular group of islands somewhere in the Pacific?

Jublilee sleepily whispered in his ear, "Are you happy you have your story now?"

**Author's note:** Dedicated to all those who help the athletes reach their dreams. I know the summer Olympics are running now but this story came to mind and I had to lend poor old Bobby a hand.

While my personality is similar to Scott's (I've taken 'Which X-Man are you?' Internet quiz to prove it), Bobby had always been the X-Man I'd want to hang with. Those ice slides were THE power I always wanted most. I understand why he was portrayed in Evo as a joker - he was one in the original 60s comics. Still I felt bad for him in Cruise Control – he was trying to cheer Amara up with his ice sculptures but got the X-Kids in trouble.

I've seen rants from people who claim Bobby had no right to be promoted to the senior team on Evo – that Amara was more level headed. I guess it was just a tribute to the comics that he was brought up.


End file.
